Description

A CUP INSPECTION SYSTEM

Technical Field

[1] The present invention relates to a cup check system for checking if opened inner surfaces of a cup made of paper, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), or the like are defective.

Background Art

[2] Since cups made of paper, polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE) or the like are widely used as disposable containers in automatic vending machines, various fast food places, and chain stores, they are currently under mass production and are sold. As the cups are under mass production, it is necessary to immediately check if the cups are defective during production. A paper-cup check system for checking if containers are defective is disclosed in Korean Utility Model No. 20-0317260( June 10, 2003). In the paper-cup check system, paper cups are transferred by a conveyor-like transfer member and checked by a camera disposed over the transfer member in order to see if the transferred paper cups are defective.

[3] However, since the paper-cup check system uses the conveyor-like transfer member to transfer the paper cups, it is large in size and requires a large installation space. In addition, since the paper cups are checked while being transferred, it is difficult to accurately check if the paper cups are defective. And, the system requires a direction changing device for changing a direction of the paper cup and peripheral devices, such as a computer.

Disclosure of Invention Technical Problem

[4] The present invention is directed to a cup check system which can accurately check if cups are defective, can occupy a small space, and can be produced at low cost because of its simple structure. Technical Solution

[5] One aspect of the present invention provides a cup check system comprising: a case

10 provided in an upper portion of the system and including a cup inlet 11 for injecting a cup Cl into the system, a normal-cup outlet 15 for moving a normal cup C5 outside the system, and a defective-cup outlet 16 for moving a defective cup C6 outside the system, the inlet and the outlets being formed at certain intervals; a holder plate 20 disposed and rotated inside the case 10 and having six holders 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 formed at certain intervals for holding the cups injected from the cup inlet 11, three of them being always located to correspond to the cup inlet 11, the normal-cup outlet

15 and the defective-cup outlet 16; a rotational driving unit 30 for rotating the holder plate 20; three fixing units 40 disposed in an upper portion of the case 10 for pressing cups held by holders other than the holders corresponding to cup inlet 11, the normal- cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16 so that the cups do not move when the holder plate 20 stops; cameras disposed below the holders other than the holders corresponding to the cup inlet 11, the normal-cup outlet 15, and the defective-cup outlet

16 for taking images of the insides of the cups held by the holders; an illumination unit 60 for illuminating the insides of the cups so that the cameras clearly take the images of the inside of the cups; and an air supply unit 70 disposed below two holders corresponding to the normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16 and having a first nozzle 71 for injecting air to move the normal cup C5 to the normal-cup outlet 15, and a second nozzle 72 for injecting air to move the defective cup C6 to the defective- cup outlet 16, wherein: the cameras comprise first and second cameras 50 and 55 disposed below the two holders 23 and 24 of the three holders, and the first camera 50 takes an image of two thirds of the inside of the cup C3 and the second camera 55 takes an image of a third of the inside of the cup C4 and the bottom of the cup.

[6] In the present invention, tubes are disposed on the cup inlet 11, the normal-cup outlet 15, and the defective-cup outlet 16, respectively. [7] In the present invention, an air injection nozzle is disposed below the holder 22 and connected to the air supply unit 70 for guiding the cup C2 to a correct position inside the holder 22.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[8] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cup check system according to the present invention;

[9] FIG. 2 illustrates holders of a holder plate, and a cup inlet, a normal-cup outlet, and a defective-cup outlet corresponding to the holders in FIG. 1 ;

[10] FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a fixing unit of FIG. 2; and

[11] FIG. 4 illustrates a process of checking cups in the cup check system of FIG. 1.

Mode for the Invention

[12] Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various types. Therefore, the present exemplary embodiments are provided for complete disclosure of the present invention and to fully inform the scope of the present invention to those ordinarily skilled in the art.

[13] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cup check system according to the present invention, FIG. 2 illustrates holders of a holder plate, and a cup inlet, a normal-cup

outlet and a defective-cup outlet corresponding to the holders in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating a fixing unit of FIG. 2, and FIG. 4 illustrates a process of checking cups in the cup check system of FIG. 1.

[14] Referring to FIG. 1, the cup check system according to the present invention comprises a case 10 provided in an upper portion of the system and including a cup inlet 11 for injecting a cup Cl into the system, a normal-cup outlet 15 for moving a normal cup C5 outside the system, and a defective-cup outlet 16 for moving a defective cup C6 outside the system, the inlet and the outlets being formed at certain intervals; a holder plate 20 disposed and rotated inside the case 10 and having six holders 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 formed at certain intervals for holding the cups injected from the cup inlet 11, three of them being always located to correspond to the cup inlet 11, the normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16; a rotational driving unit 30 for rotating the holder plate 20; three fixing units 40 disposed in an upper portion of the case 10 for pressing cups held by holders other than the holders corresponding to cup inlet 11, the normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16 so that the cups do not move when the holder plate 20 stops; cameras disposed below the holders other than the holders corresponding to the cup inlet 11, the normal-cup outlet 15, and the defective-cup outlet 16 for taking images of the insides of the cups held by the holders; an illumination unit 60 for illuminating the insides of the cups so that the cameras clearly take the images of the inside of the cups; an air supply unit 70 disposed below two holders corresponding to the normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16 and having a first nozzle 71 for injecting air to move the normal cup C5 to the normal-cup outlet 15, and a second nozzle 72 for injecting air to move the defective cup C6 to the defective-cup outlet 16; and a controller 80 disposed on the case 10 for controlling operation of the rotational driving unit 30, the fixing unit 40, first and second cameras 50 and 55, the illumination unit 60, and the air supply unit 70. In this case, the case 10 comprises lower wheels 18 for easy movement of the cup check system.

[15] Preferably, tubes are disposed on the cup inlet 11, the normal-cup outlet 15, and the defective-cup outlet 16. In this case, the tube connecting with the cup inlet 11 connects with an external cup venting machine (not shown) and guides cups automatically offered from the cup venting machine to the cup inlet 11. The tube connecting with the normal-cup outlet 15 connects with a normal-cup collecting device (not shown) and guides normal cups to the normal-cup collecting device. The tube connecting with the defective cup inlet 16 connects with a defective-cup collecting device (not shown) and guides defective cups to the defective-cup collecting device.

[16] In the holder plate 20, the six holders 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26 are formed in a circumferential direction. Three of the holders are located to correspond to the cup inlet

11, the normal-cup outlet 15, and the defective-cup outlet 16 when the holder plate 20 stops.

[17] The rotational driving unit 30 is disposed beneath the case 10 and rotates the holder plate 20. In this case, the rotational driving unit 30 discontinuously rotates the holder plate 20 step by step so that the six holders sequentially arrive at positions corresponding to the cup inlet 11, the normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16.

[18] The fixing unit 40 presses the cups held by three of the six holders against bottoms of the holders so that the cups do not move. The fixing unit 40 may be implemented in various forms. In the present embodiment, the fixing unit 40 includes a body 41 fixed inside the case 10 and having a cylinder 42 provided therein, a cylinder rod 43 sliding into and out of the cylinder 42, and a pressing member 44 fixed to a lower end of the cylinder rod 43 for pressing an upper end of the cup, as shown in FIG. 3.

[19] The cameras include one or two cameras. In the present embodiment, the cameras include first and second cameras 50 and 55. The first and second cameras 50 and 55 are disposed below the two holders 23 and 24 of the three holders, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 4. Where entrances of the cups first enter as in the present embodiment, the first and second cameras 50 and 55 are disposed below the holders 23 and 24. However, it will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that when bottoms of the cups first enter unlike the present embodiment, the cameras may be disposed over the holders 23 and 24.

[20] The first camera 50 takes an image of two thirds of the inside of the cup C3 held by the holder 23 and the second camera 55 takes an image of a third of the inside of the cup C4 held by the holder 24 and the bottom of the cup. Thus, the first and second cameras 50 and 55 taking the images of the portions of the inside of the cup allows the cups to be checked twice.

[21] The illumination unit 60 illuminates the inside of the cup so that the first and second cameras 50 and 55 clearly take images of the inside of the cup. The illumination unit 60 is implemented by a known flash, and illuminates the inside of the cup when the first and second cameras 50 and 55 take images of the insides of the cups.

[22] The air supply unit 70 includes the first and second nozzles 71 and 72 disposed below the two holders corresponding to the normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16, and an air pump (not shown) for supplying compressed air through the first and second nozzles 71 and 72. The air supply unit 70 selectively injects the compressed air using either the first nozzle 71 or the second nozzle 72.

[23] Preferably, an air injection nozzle (not shown) is disposed below the holder 22 and connected to the air supply unit 70 for guiding the cup C2 held by the holder 22 to a correct position inside the holder 22 before the fixing unit 40 presses the cup against

the bottom of the holder so that the cup does not move.

[24] Operation of the cup check system having the above structure will now be described.

[25] For ease of illustration, the holders of the holder plate 20 are numbered.

[26] First, cups to be checked are offered from the external cup venting machine into the cup inlet 11 one by one, and the cups offered into the cup inlet 11 are dropped into and are held by the first holder 21 of the holder plate 20. The controller 80 then activates the rotational driving unit 30 to rotate the holder plate 20 step by step, so that the second holder 22 is located below the cup inlet 11. The cup venting machine offers another cup into the cup inlet 11. The above operation is repeatedly performed to sequentially hold the cups Cl, C2, C3, C4, C5 and C6 in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth holders 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26.

[27] A check if the cups are defective is made while the cups are sequentially offered to the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth holders 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 26. In other words, when the holder plate 20 rotates and then stops, three fixing units 40 are actuated to press the cups C2, C3 and C4 held by the second, third, and fourth holders 22, 23 and 24 so that the cups C2, C3 and C4 do not move, as shown in FIG. 4. In this state, the illumination unit 60 illuminates and the first and second cameras 50 and 55 take images of the insides of the cups C3 and C4 and transmit the images to the controller 80, which then determines whether the cups C3 and C4 are defective, based on the images. In addition, the controller 80 rotates the holder plate 20 so that the checked cups move to the locations corresponding to the normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16.

[28] When the checked cups C3 and C4 arrive at the locations corresponding to the normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective-cup outlet 16, the controller 80 operates the air supply unit 70 to inject the air through the first nozzle 71 or the second nozzle 72, based on whether the cups C3 and C4 are defective. The compressed air injected by the first or second nozzle 71 or 72 causes the normal cup to move outside the system through normal-cup outlet 15 and the defective cup to move outside the system through the defective-cup outlet 16. Rapid cup check is made by repeatedly performing this operation and the normal cup and the defective cup are sorted and moved outside the system.

[29] While the invention has been shown and described with reference to certain exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Industrial Applicability

[30] As described above, the cup check is made on the rotatable holder plate, thus reducing the size of the cup check system. Accordingly, the cup check system can occupy a minimal space.

[31] Also, the cup check is made when the holder plate stops, thereby increasing accuracy of the check.

[32] Furthermore, the cup check system does not require a separate direction changing device for changing a direction of the cup, and peripheral devices, such as a computer because the cup check is made by an integrally provided controller.